October Brings Awareness To So Much, For So Many

October is a month well known for bringing awareness to many different aspects of our world. For my family, we use October to celebrate Dwarfism Awareness.

Some of you know our story about our daughter Charlie. For those that don’t, our daughter Charlie is a little person. When I was 29 weeks pregnant, a sonogram showed us that her upper arms and legs weren’t growing as fast as the rest of her body. The rest of that pregnancy was filled with so many tests, questions, and unknowns. There are no little people in our family histories; hers was a genetic mutation.

Flash forward to now, seven years later, and we have a very healthy little lady. Charlie has more friends than she knows what to do with, she’s extremely active, and while she can’t do everything the same way as her peers, she always finds her own way.

We always tell Charlie that she’s our little unicorn because physically, she’s different than other little people. In fact, all little people differ from one another. We were naive and scared when she was born, thinking that her physical differences would make other children outcast her as different. My brother, a fantastic elementary school teacher, gave me the most honest and calming piece of wisdom in those early days. He told me, “Contrary to what people always seem to think, kids are amazing in their ability to rally behind, and champion kids that are different”. He was so right. Because of his words, we felt confident when we sent Charlie to public school. Sure enough, we’ve had nothing but supportive peers for Charlie, and parents who are understanding, and teach their children that same quality.

October is filled with 5ks, celebrations of life and awareness for so much. Please remember to love a little, and wear kelly green on October 25th for Dwarfism Awareness. If you have any questions at all about Charlie, or our journey as a family, please feel free to reach out to me. I love sharing our story, and hearing from others.